NEW Toronto ISLAND, Villiers Island | Canada's Largest Infrastructure Project

Toronto's new island & bridges, look around at Toronto Villiers Island construction in the Port Lands on the waterfront. More info below.
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The Villiers Island precinct (formerly referred to as Cousins Quay) will be a stunning new waterfront community that embraces its distinct industrial functions and the spectacular new parks, public spaces and ecological richness that will result from the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River.
Surrounded by water on all sides, the Villiers Island precinct will introduce a vitality to the area that honours the distinctive culture associated with waterfront districts and vibrant working ports.
What was once a vast industrial space is being redesigned and constructed from the bottom up to become one of the city's first net-zero communities and one of the first of its kind in Canada.
Covering 33.5 hectares (83 acres), this is one of the largest non-transit infrastructure projects currently afoot in North America.
Villiers Island will have a mix of medium and tall buildings and has the potential to house thousands of residents and welcome 2.5 million visitors while maintaining abundant green spaces and parks. With room for pedestrians, bike lanes, light rail transit, and cars. Almost 3,000 people will also work on the island.
The opening of the Cherry Street North and Commissioners Street Bridges for vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist traffic allows for the ushering of visitors into and around the future site of Villiers Island.
The Port Lands Flood Protection Project is a $1.25 billion strategy to protect 240 hectares along Toronto's Eastern waterfront.
Villiers Island is part of a larger plan to ease flooding, and send that water into flood plains and, eventually, back to Lake Ontario. New wetlands will provide support for aquatic ecosystems.
0:00 Inner Harbour
0:28 Cherry Street Bridge North
0:44 Future Promontory Park
1:01 Cherry Street
1:18 Future Promontory Park
1:35 Cherry Street Bridge South
1:57 Future Canoe Cove & Promontory Park
3:01 Future River Park
3:21 Commissioners Street
3:37 Future River Park
3:45 Municipal Infrastructure
3:50 Commissioners Street Bridge South
4:23 Future River Valley Park
4:58 Future Villers Park
5:11 Municipal Infrastructure
5:25 River Valley
6:28 Commissioners Street
6:35 Old Cherry Street
6:55 Old Cherry Street Lift Bridge
7:22 Cherry Street
7:30 Cherry Street Bridge North Future Transit

[@rajaramjet6969]

Wow, what a bunch of cry babies complaining about a wonderful restoration project. I think what they are doing is awesome. Fixing a mistake from the past by restoring the marshes and creating parklands for all is a win win event. I've been coming to this area for decades and looking forward to the completion of the parklands.

[@dgabit]

The city can’t please everyone... I agree it does look like it can be really great, the parks look amazing, the views, and it is a good idea to restore this land to improve city flooding. I can’t wait to see all the green space start growing. Thanks for the comment.

[@hayduke93]

Agreed, lack of planning and prioritizing industrial development in the past was certainly not unique to Toronto, this is an issue every modern developed country deals with - personally, I think it is fantastic that the city is tackling it and doing it's best to correct the past mistakes. The waterfront is Toronto's biggest asset in my opinion, it is awesome to see it get better every year.

[@patricksweeney6418]

What exactly is a "net-zero" community

[@dgabit]

This is what they are trying to do... A Climate positive community is designed to eliminate its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and reduce emissions in nearby communities. The result is a community that produces less than zero emissions. Villiers Island aims to be a climate positive community, which means it goes beyond net-zero emissions. > Villiers Island is designed to eliminate its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and also reduce emissions in nearby communities. > The goal is to produce less than zero emissions, effectively contributing to the fight against climate change. > They aim to balance operational carbon emissions (such as those from buildings and transportation) with renewable energy produced on-site. > Additionally, they plan to offset carbon emissions elsewhere in Toronto > Buildings with more insulation, air-tight construction, higher quality windows, and more efficient mechanical systems > Building structures according to the Solar Access Model > Solar panels in the community could create enough electricity to power over 850 Ontario homes every year. > District energy centres on Villiers Island will aim to be centrally located to reduce the cost of distributing, and will also use renewable energy resources > By shifting most trips to transit, walking or cycling, and maximizing use of electric vehicles, transportation emissions can be reduced significantly.

[@jtcrocker6716]

Walk and hold your breath

[@dgabit]

Everyone doing their part.

[@hudgyderobertis]

Is all of the construction equipment 'net zero'? Will this new green utopia house the millions of Indians moving here every year? Will it be surveilled using a social credit score system and a CBDC?

[@dgabit]

Net Zero is far off. It's supposed to have a lot of "affordable housing" so maybe a place for new immigrants. Social credit score sounds scary.

[@dejanivanovski8575]

They have been working on this for years. Always wondered what it will turn in to. Isn’t the land polluted?

[@JohnNorton86]

The project is an absolute massive undertaking. This area was at one time the largest marsh lands in Lake Ontario. In the early 1900s it was filled in with trash and other material to eventually build a port. Around the time of the St. Lawrence Seaway being built. There was a belief that Toronto's port, with its massive industry, would become a huge shipping point. But shortly after the seaway opened, industry was quickly leaving the city. And the massive port lands were left underutilized. One of the industries that took advantage of the space was an Oil refinery. Which over the course of many years leaked vast amounts of petroleum products into the ground. All of this soil has to be dug up and treated. Special liners were used along the course of the new river valley to prevent any leftover contaminants from seeping into the river. In the course of the excavation, they uncovered a huge network of pipes used to move the oil from tank to tank. And the foundations of old buildings and tunnels. They had to raise the land up higher and reinforce the riverbank to withstand a 1 in 1000 year storm event.

[@sid6856]

​@@JohnNorton86Thankyou John, very interesting history. 👍

[@dgabit]

Wow that's great history! Thank you for sharing all that information! I also found this ... " Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are contaminants in the soil as a result of decades of heavy industrial uses in the Port Lands. Some examples of materials containing PAHs are coal and old heating oil. They are also commonly used in the manufacturing of asphalt shingles and other bituminous products like road asphalt. The Port Lands was home to a coal storage yard, as well as factories and oil refineries which are a likely source of this contamination. Some examples of materials containing PHCs are gasoline, diesel, heavy oils, kerosene and other fuels. These PHCs were left by the oil refineries and fuel storage facilities that existed in the Port Lands for much of the 1900s. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are compounds released into the air from industrial processes such as burning fuels and plastics manufacturing and products like industrial solvents, chemical degreasers, and consumer products like cigarettes and plastics. The many industrial uses and poor-quality materials used to create the Port Lands are the main contributor to VOCs. These compounds are not unique to the Port Lands and can be found elsewhere in Toronto’s downtown."

[@sqr2024]

So will the residents also be taxed for rain and snow fall like the rest of the overly taxed Toronto residents?

[@dgabit]

Yes rain tax, snow tax, island tax, new community tax...the list goes on.

[@Lizzbird_]

As long as you don’t vote liberal you don’t need to worry about tax hikes

[@sirjohneh]

@@Lizzbird_ there are no parties in Canadian municipal politics

[@Lizzbird_]

@@sirjohneh I know, but you know what I mean.

[@sirjohneh]

@@Lizzbird_ ok sure, but you realize that Toronto municipal taxes are quite low relative to many places, including the rest of the GTA and other provinces, countries etc, we really don't pay that much

[@adamrigby7409]

So is the garbage lake freighter still gona park on the pier and smell to high heaven lol let’s kick all the houses and airport off of center island and just make it a beautiful natural park

[@dgabit]

There will be a Western Dock that will be maintained for seasonal ship mooring, and will provide an opportunity for waterfront access when ships are not docked. Centre Island as one big natural park is an interesting idea.

[@drumitar]

big casino going there i heard.

[@dgabit]

I believe it!

[@sunsetfromvenus]

I don’t care what all these losers say I wanna live there one day

[@dgabit]

Lots of people being very critical about this project, but the main thing is it prevents city flooding and rejuvenate the area as it was very polluted. I have a feeling though with limited "affordable housing" and all the people who are going to want to live in this area, it's going to be hard to get a place. But the new parks look like very lovely places for everyone to enjoy.

[@sunsetfromvenus]

@@dgabit yes it will be mega exclusive and unique! I already live downtown for 10yrs now and nowhere in the city will be as nice as this! Looking forward to it and hoping to buy EARLY in pre-construction ;)

[@dgabit]

Good luck, I hope you get it! It will be a hot area, pre-construction is the way to go. I look forward to seeing what the buildings will look like inside.

[@djsmithe]

I'm not impressed with the bridge design.

[@dgabit]

I think they will blend in better once everything else gets built up. "The bridges were designed as an aesthetically unified family of four and showcase innovative fabrication techniques alongside state-of-the-art engineering. The goal of the design was to create elegant and efficient structures that will function as both crossing points and compelling destinations for the public." "Entuitive, sbp, and Grimshaw worked to ensure the bridges reached the high aesthetic requirements to satisfy the public realm and create new legacy structures for the city of Toronto. The resulting family of Port Lands Bridges has been widely recognized with engineering and steel construction design awards in North America and Europe, including the Institution of Structural Engineers, the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, the Structural Engineers Association of NY, and the Association of Consulting Engineers Companies for Ontario." "The design team arrived at a hybrid shell-arch bridge structure-essentially curved tied arches with a planar deck connected by hangers. This self-anchoring curved-tied arch maximizes the material efficiency and reduces cost. Additionally, tied arches only create vertical reaction forces which reduce the size and complexity of the foundations. This was a key design consideration since the soil in the industrial area is contaminated and of poor quality and supporting foundations and piers were also limited by the site's flood protection plan."

[@DaveonTap]

They should name it "Heavy metal Cancer Research Park".

[@dgabit]

I guess the first test is if all the new wild life starts getting sick or have defects. "We’ve tested technologies to help us clean soil as we excavate the new river valley. We’re now using two of these processes to treat soil on site: biopiling and smoldering. This will allow us to reuse the soil we excavate in the Port Lands to raise grades along the new river edge, green spillway and Keating Channel, protecting these lands from flooding."

[@baconlips]

Horseshit Island comes to mind ....

[@dgabit]

Ouch, hopefully it's not that bad when it's done.

[@Acccountable]

Now that was funny!!

[@andrewmclean7698]

when it's all done people will realize how much of a waste of money this is

[@dgabit]

The renderings look pretty nice but they got a long way to go. 5000 new homes with "affordable housing", 10,000 residents, and 3000 full time workers... it has potential if the city can keep it in budget.

[@andrewmclean7698]

@@dgabit the city budget is already way over the top, but like you said we will see

[@commonsenserevolutionx1053]

Toronto councillors are asking for a name for this island. And of course they have asked the Indians,(feathered), to name it. Can we just give Canadian names to things we pay for with "our" taxes? The WOKE Toronto councillors think this will help reconciliation. Yea...the only thing those people want for reconciliation is ANOTHER government check for lots of cash.....preferably with Justin Trudeau crying like a baby as he apologizes, yet again.

[@shanemcghie2839]

God you people are insufferable...

[@ali.aloreabi]

Wtf

[@dgabit]

LOL From what I see the name is Villiers Island. This is what I found... "named for Major Villiers Sankey (1854-1905), a British Army officer and the city's early surveyor (1888-1905). Sankey was born in Ireland and came to Canada sometime after he passed his India Civil Service exams in 1872."

[@ms.carlson3904]

Feathered Indians should name it. It is good.

[@Fuzzy-_-Logic]

How much more Canadian could you want than Native Canadians?

[@LilSchwinn]

man toronto is such an eye sore with those cookie cutter buildings and terrible designs

[@dgabit]

Yes a lot of people complain about the grey concrete and glass look Toronto has going. There is a mix of architecture but you need to look deeper in the city. It's nice they are keeping some of the historic facades to incorporate into some buildings.